James Horner
James Roy Horner (August 14, 1953 – June 22, 2015) was an American composer, conductor and orchestrator of film scores. He was known for the integration of choral and electronic elements in many of his film scores, and for his frequent use of motifs associated with Celtic music. Horner was an accomplished concert hall composer before he moved into writing film scores. His first major film score was for the 1979 film The Lady in Red, but did not establish himself as a mainstream composer until he worked on the 1982 film Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. Horner's score for Titanic is the best selling orchestral film soundtrack of all time while Titanic and Avatar, both directed by James Cameron, are the two highest-grossing films of all time. Horner collaborated on multiple projects with directors including Don Bluth, Walter Hill and Ron Howard; producers including David Kirschner, Jon Landau and Steven Spielberg; and songwriters including Will Jennings, Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil. Horner composed music for over 100 films; he won two Academy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, three Satellite Awards, and three Saturn Awards, and was nominated for three British Academy Film Awards. Horner died when his single-engine Short Tucano aircraft crashed in the Los Padres National Forest. He was 61. Early life Horner was born into a Jewish family at Los Angeles in 1953. His parents were Harry Horner and Joan Ruth Frankel. Harry was born in 1910 at Holíč, then a part of Austria-Hungary, but later part of Czechoslovakia. He emigrated to the United States in 1935, and worked as a set designer and occasional art-director. Joan Frankel was born in Canada. James' brother, Christopher, is a writer and documentary filmmaker. Horner started playing piano at the age of five. His early years were spent in London, where he attended the Royal College of Music. He returned to America where he attended Verde Valley School in Sedona, Arizona, and later received his bachelor's degree in music from the University of Southern California. After he earned a master's degree, he started work on his doctorate at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where he studied with Paul Chihara, among others. After several scoring assignments with the American Film Institute in the 1970s, he finished teaching a course in music theory at UCLA and subsequently turned to film scoring. Horner was also an avid pilot, and owned several small airplanes. Career One of Horner's first major film scores was for the 1979 film The Lady in Red. He began his career scoring films by working for B film director and producer Roger Corman. Horner's first composer credit was for Corman's Battle Beyond the Stars. From there, his works gained notice in Hollywood, which enabled him to take on larger projects. Horner's major breakthrough came in 1982, when he had the chance to score the music to Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan; the project established him as a mainstream composer. The film's director Nicholas Meyer quipped that Horner had been hired because the studio couldn't afford to use the first film's composer Jerry Goldsmith again, but by the time Meyer returned to the franchise with Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, the director found that he couldn't afford Horner either. Horner continued composing music for high-profile releases during the 1980s, including 48 Hrs. (1982), Krull (1983), Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984), Commando (1985), Cocoon (1985), Aliens (1986), *batteries not included (1987), Willow (1988), Glory and Field of Dreams (both 1989). Aliens earned Horner his first Academy Award nomination for Best Original Score in 1987, at the 59th Academy Awards. "Somewhere Out There", which he co-composed and co-wrote with Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil for An American Tail, was also nominated that year for Best Original Song. Throughout the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s, Horner wrote orchestral scores for children's films (particularly those produced by Amblin Entertainment), with credits for An American Tail (1986), The Land Before Time (1988), The Rocketeer and An American Tail: Fievel Goes West (1991), Once Upon a Forest and We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story (all in 1993), The Pagemaster (1994), and Casper, Jumanji, and Balto (all from 1995) and Mighty Joe Young (1998) and How the Grinch stole Christmas (2000). Horner produced no fewer than six scores during 1995, including his commercially successful and critically acclaimed works for Braveheart and Apollo 13, both of which earned him Academy Award nominations. Horner's biggest financial and critical success would come with the score to the 1997 film Titanic. The album became the best-selling primarily orchestral soundtrack in history, selling over 27 million copies worldwide. At the 70th Academy Awards, Horner won Oscars for Best Original Dramatic Score and Best Original Song for "My Heart Will Go On" (which he co-wrote with Will Jennings). In addition, Horner and Jennings won three Grammy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards for the soundtrack and "My Heart Will Go On". Titanic also marked the first time in ten years that Horner worked with director James Cameron (following the highly stressful scoring sessions for Aliens, Horner declared that he would never work with Cameron again and described the experience as "a nightmare"). Following Titanic, Horner continued to score for major productions (including The Perfect Storm, A Beautiful Mind, Enemy at the Gates, The Mask of Zorro, The Legend of Zorro, House of Sand and Fog and Bicentennial Man). Aside from scoring major productions, Horner periodically worked on smaller projects such as Iris, Radio and Bobby Jones: Stroke of Genius. He received his eighth and ninth Academy Award nominations for A Beautiful Mind (2001) and House of Sand and Fog (2003), but lost on both occasions to Howard Shore. He frequently collaborated with film director Ron Howard, a partnership that began with Cocoon in 1985. Horner composed the 2006–2011 theme music for the CBS Evening News. The theme was introduced as part of the debut of Katie Couric as anchor on September 5, 2006. Horner recollaborated with James Cameron on the 2009 film Avatar, which was released in December 2009 and has since become the highest-grossing film of all time, surpassing Titanic (also directed by Cameron and scored by Horner). Horner spent over two years working on the score for Avatar, and did not take on any other projects during that time. His work on Avatar earned him numerous award nominations, including his tenth Academy Award nomination as well as Golden Globe Award, British Academy Film Award, and Grammy Award nominations, all of which he lost to Michael Giacchino for Up. Regarding the experience of scoring Avatar, Horner said, "Avatar has been the most difficult film I have worked on and the biggest job I have undertaken ... I work from four in the morning to about ten at night and that’s been my way of life since March. That's the world I'm in now and it makes you feel estranged from everything. I'll have to recover from that and get my head out of Avatar." Horner also composed the score for the 2010 version of The Karate Kid, replacing Atli Örvarsson. This film—the first that Horner worked on after Avatar—was released in 2010. In 2011, Horner scored Cristiada (also known as For Greater Glory), which was released a year later, and Black Gold. In 2012 Horner scored The Amazing Spider-Man, starring Andrew Garfield. In a recent interview on his website, Horner revealed why he didn't return to compose the second movie; that he didn't like how the movie resulted in comparison to the first movie, and even called the movie "dreadful." Upon his departure, he was replaced by Hans Zimmer. At the beginning of 2015, Horner wrote the music for Jean-Jacques Annaud's adventure film Wolf Totem, which marked his fourth collaboration with Annaud and also Horner's first film score in nearly three years. At the time of his death in 2015, projects to which Horner was attached included the forthcoming film The 33 for director Patricia Riggen, and Southpaw, a sports drama film directed by Antoine Fuqua and starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Rachel McAdams. Both films are slated for release later in 2015. Horner's scores have been sampled in trailers for other films. The climax of the track Bishop's Countdown from his score for Aliens ranks fifth in the most commonly used soundtrack cues for film trailers. Orchestral work In 2014, Horner composed the commission piece Pas de Deux, a double concerto for violin and cello, which was premiered on November 12, 2014, by Mari and Hakon Samuelsen with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Vasily Petrenko. The work was commissioned to mark the 175th season of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic. Horner also composed Collage, a concerto for four horns, which premiered on March 27, 2015, at the Royal Festival Hall in London by the London Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Jaime Martín, with David Pyatt, John Ryan, James Thatcher and Richard Watkins as soloists. Musical borrowing Horner has been criticized for writing film scores that incorporate passages from his earlier compositions, and that feature brief excerpts or reworked themes from other classical composers. For example, his scores from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and Star Trek III: The Search for Spock include excerpts from Alexander Nevsky and Romeo and Juliet, both by Prokofiev, while the heroic theme from Willow is based on that of Robert Schumann's Rhenish Symphony. The climactic battle scene in Glory includes excerpts from Wagner and Orff. A frequent criticism of Horner has been that his tendency to borrow passages from other composers as well as his own earlier work makes his compositions inauthentic or unoriginal; a Filmtracks review of Titanic called Horner "skilled in the adaptation of existing music into films with just enough variation to avoid legal troubles." Death On June 22, 2015, multiple international news outlets reported that Horner was presumed to have died when his Short Tucano turboprop aircraft crashed into the Los Padres National Forest near Ventucopa, California. The following day, his representatives at the Gorfaine/Schwartz Agency posted a message on their website stating that Horner, the only person aboard the aircraft, was killed.His attorney confirmed Horner was in the airplane when it took off after fueling at Camarillo Airport.The Ventura County Medical Examiner's Office on June 25 confirmed Horner's death and ruled the crash an accident. Contemporaries and collaborators around the world paid their respects to Horner, including composers Paul Williams and Alan Menken, and directors Ron Howard and James Cameron. Horner was reported to be committed to the Avatar franchise; Cameron said he and Horner "were looking forward to our next gig." Horner's assistant, Sylvia Patrycja, wrote on her Facebook page, "We have lost an amazing person with a huge heart and unbelievable talent who died doing what he loved."Many celebrities, including Russell Crowe, Diane Warren and Céline Dion, also gave their condolences. Dion, who sang "My Heart Will Go On", one of Horner's most renowned compositions and considered Dion's signature song, wrote on her website that she and husband René Angélil were "shaken by the tragic death" of their friend. "We will always remember his kindness and great talent that changed my career." List of scores Film 1970s 1978 The Drought (for the American Film Institute) 1978 Fantasies (for the American Film Institute) 1978 Gist and Evans (for the American Film Institute) 1978 Landscapes (for the American Film Institute) 1978 Just for a Laugh (for the American Film Institute) 1978 The Watcher (for the American Film Institute) 1979 The Lady in Red 1979 Up from the Depths 1980s Year Title Director Studio(s) Notes 1980 Humanoids from the Deep Barbara Peeters New World Pictures 1980 Battle Beyond the Stars Jimmy T. Murakami New World Pictures Score reused in later Roger Corman productions 1981 The Hand Oliver Stone Orion Pictures 1981 Wolfen Michael Wadleigh Warner Bros. Pictures Replaced Craig Safan 1981 Deadly Blessing Wes Craven United Artists 1981 The Pursuit of D. B. Cooper Roger Spottiswoode Universal Pictures 1982 Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan Nicholas Meyer Paramount Pictures 1982 48 Hrs. Walter Hill Paramount Pictures 1983 Something Wicked This Way Comes Jack Clayton Walt Disney Pictures Replaced Georges Delerue 1983 Krull Peter Yates Columbia Pictures 1983 Brainstorm Douglas Trumbull Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer 1983 Testament Lynne Littman Paramount Pictures 1983 The Dresser Peter Yates Columbia Pictures 1983 Gorky Park Michael Apted Orion Pictures 1983 Uncommon Valor Ted Kotcheff Paramount Pictures 1984 The Stone Boy Christopher Cain 20th Century Fox 1984 Star Trek III: The Search for Spock Leonard Nimoy Paramount Pictures 1985 Heaven Help Us Michael Dinner TriStar Pictures 1985 Cocoon Ron Howard 20th Century Fox 1985 Volunteers Nicholas Meyer TriStar Pictures 1985 The Journey of Natty Gann Jeremy Kagan Walt Disney Pictures Replaced Elmer Bernstein 1985 Commando Mark L. Lester 20th Century Fox 1986 Off Beat Michael Dinner Touchstone Pictures 1986 Aliens James Cameron 20th Century Fox Oscar & Golden Globe nomination 1986 Where the River Runs Black Christopher Cain Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer 1986 The Name of the Rose Jean-Jacques Annaud 20th Century Fox 1986 An American Tail Don Bluth Universal Pictures Oscar nomination; also wrote "Somewhere Out There" with Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil for Linda Ronstadt and James Ingram 1987 P.K. and the Kid50 Lou Lombardo Sunn Classic Pictures 1987 Project X Jonathan Kaplan 20th Century Fox 1987 *batteries not included Matthew Robbins Universal Pictures 1988 Willow Ron Howard Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer 1988 Red Heat Walter Hill TriStar Pictures 1988 Vibes Ken Kwapis Columbia Pictures 1988 The Land Before Time Don Bluth Universal Pictures also wrote "If We Hold On Together" with Will Jennings for Diana Ross 1988 Cocoon: The Return Daniel Petrie 20th Century Fox 1989 Field of Dreams Phil Alden Robinson Universal Pictures Oscar nomination 1989 Honey, I Shrunk the Kids Joe Johnston Walt Disney Pictures 1989 In Country Norman Jewison Warner Bros. Pictures 1989 Dad Gary David Goldberg Universal Pictures 1989 Glory Edward Zwick TriStar Pictures Golden Globe nomination 1990s Year Title Director Studio(s) Notes 1990 I Love You to Death Lawrence Kasdan TriStar Pictures 1990 Another 48 Hrs. Walter Hill Paramount Pictures 1991 Once Around Lasse Hallström Universal Pictures 1991 My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys Stuart Rosenberg The Samuel Goldwyn Company 1991 Class Action Michael Apted 20th Century Fox 1991 The Rocketeer Joe Johnston Walt Disney Pictures 1991 An American Tail: Fievel Goes West Phil Nibbelink and Simon Wells Amblin Entertainment Golden Globe nomination; also wrote "Dreams to Dream" with Will Jennings for Linda Ronstadt 1992 Thunderheart Michael Apted TriStar Pictures 1992 Sneakers Phil Alden Robinson Universal Studios 1992 Unlawful Entry Jonathan Kaplan 20th Century Fox 1992 Patriot Games Phillip Noyce Paramount Pictures 1993 Swing Kids Thomas Carter Hollywood Pictures 1993 A Far Off Place Mikael Salomon Walt Disney Pictures 1993 Jack the Bear Marshall Herskovitz 20th Century Fox 1993 Once Upon a Forest Charles Grosvenor 20th Century Fox also wrote "Once Upon A Time With Me" with Will Jennings 1993 House of Cards Michael Lessac Miramax Films 1993 Hocus Pocus Kenny Ortega Walt Disney Pictures Only wrote "Sarah's Theme" with Brock Walsh; film scored by John Debney 1993 Searching for Bobby Fischer Steven Zaillian Paramount Pictures 1993 The Man Without a Face Mel Gibson Warner Bros. Pictures 1993 Bopha! Morgan Freeman Paramount Pictures 1993 We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story Phil Nibbelink and Simon Wells Universal Pictures also wrote "Roll Back The Rock (To The Dawn Of Time)" with Thomas Dolby for Little Richard 1993 The Pelican Brief Alan J. Pakula Warner Bros. Pictures 1994 Clear and Present Danger Phillip Noyce Paramount Pictures 1994 The Pagemaster Joe Johnston Turner Pictures also wrote "Whatever You Imagine" with Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil for Wendy Moten 1994 Legends of the Fall Edward Zwick TriStar Pictures Golden Globe nomination 1995 Braveheart Mel Gibson Paramount Pictures Oscar, Golden Globe & BAFTA nomination 1995 Casper Brad Silberling Universal Pictures 1995 Apollo 13 Ron Howard Universal Pictures Oscar nomination 1995 Jade William Friedkin Paramount Pictures 1995 Jumanji Joe Johnston TriStar Pictures 1995 Balto Simon Wells Amblin Entertainment also wrote "Reach for the Light" with Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil for Steve Winwood 1996 The Spitfire Grill Lee David Zlotoff Columbia Pictures Replaced Bennie Wallace 1996 Ransom Ron Howard Touchstone Pictures Replaced Howard Shore 1997 The Devil's Own Alan J. Pakula Columbia Pictures 1997 Titanic James Cameron 20th Century Fox Oscar, Golden Globe & Grammy winner, BAFTA nomination; also wrote "My Heart Will Go On" with Will Jennings for Celine Dion 1998 Deep Impact Mimi Leder Paramount Pictures 1998 The Mask of Zorro Martin Campbell TriStar Pictures also wrote "I Want To Spend My Lifetime Loving You" with Will Jennings for Tina Arena and Marc Anthony 1998 Mighty Joe Young Ron Underwood Walt Disney Pictures 1999 Bicentennial Man Chris Columbus Touchstone Pictures also wrote "Then You Look at Me" with Will Jennings for Celine Dion 2000s Year Title Director(s) Studio(s) Notes 2000 The Perfect Storm Wolfgang Petersen Warner Bros. Pictures also wrote "Yours Forever" with Will Jennings for John Mellencamp 2000 How the Grinch Stole Christmas Ron Howard Universal Pictures also wrote "Where Are You, Christmas?" with Mariah Carey and Will Jennings for Faith Hill 2001 Enemy at the Gates Jean-Jacques Annaud Paramount Pictures 2001 Iris Richard Eyre Miramax Films 2001 A Beautiful Mind Ron Howard Universal Pictures Golden Globe & Oscar Nominee; also wrote "All Love Can Be" with Will Jennings for Charlotte Church 2002 Windtalkers John Woo Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer 2002 The Four Feathers Shekhar Kapur Paramount Pictures 2003 Beyond Borders Martin Campbell Paramount Pictures 2003 Radio Michael Tollin Columbia Pictures 2003 The Missing Ron Howard Columbia Pictures 2003 House of Sand and Fog Vadim Perelman DreamWorks Pictures Oscar Nominee 2004 Bobby Jones: Stroke of Genius Rowdy Herrington Film Foundry Releasing 2004 Troy Wolfgang Petersen Warner Bros. Pictures Replaced Gabriel Yared; also wrote "Remember" with Cynthia Weil for Josh Groban and Tanja Carovska 2004 The Forgotten Joseph Ruben Columbia Pictures 2005 The Chumscrubber Arie Posin Go Fish Pictures 2005 Flightplan Robert Schwentke Touchstone Pictures 2005 The Legend of Zorro Martin Campbell Columbia Pictures 2005 The New World Terrence Malick New Line Cinema 2006 All the King's Men Steven Zaillian Columbia Pictures 2006 Apocalypto Mel Gibson Touchstone Pictures 2007 The Life Before Her Eyes Vadim Perelman Magnolia Pictures 2008 The Spiderwick Chronicles Mark Waters Paramount Pictures 2008 The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas Mark Herman Miramax Films 2009 Avatar James Cameron 20th Century Fox Golden Globe, BAFTA & Oscar Nominee; also wrote "I See You" with Kuk Harrell and Simon Franglen for Leona Lewis 2010s Year Title Director(s) Studio(s) Notes 2010 The Karate Kid Harald Zwart Columbia Pictures 2011 Day of the Falcon Jean-Jacques Annaud Image Entertainment 51 2012 Cristiada Dean Wright ARC Entertainment 2012 The Amazing Spider-Man Marc Webb Columbia Pictures 2015 Wolf Totem Jean-Jacques Annaud 2015 One Day in Auschwitz52 Steve Purcell Documentary 2015 Living in the Age of Airplanes135354 Brian J. Terwilliger Documentary 2015 The 33 Patricia Riggen 2015 Southpaw Antoine Fuqua The Weinstein Company Television 1981 A Few Days in Weasel Creek55 1981 Angel Dusted55 1982 A Piano for Mrs. Cimino55 1982 Rascals and Robbers: The Secret Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn55 1983 Between Friends55 1985 Amazing Stories55 ("Alamo Jobe") 1985 Surviving55 1989 Tales from the Crypt55 ("Cutting Class") 1990 Extreme Close-Up55 1992 Fish Police55 (theme and pilot episode) 1992 Crossroads (theme) 1999 Michelle Kwan Skates to Disney's Greatest Hits55 2000 Freedom Song55 2006 CBS Evening News56 Short films 1986 Captain EO57 1989 Tummy Trouble5859 2012 First in Flight60 Awards and nominations Horner won two Academy Awards, for Best Original Dramatic Score (Titanic) and Best Original Song ("My Heart Will Go On") in 1998, and was nominated for an additional eight Oscars.61 He also won two Golden Globe Awards,62 three Satellite Awards, three Saturn Awards, and has been nominated for three British Academy Film Awards.63 In October 2013 James Horner received the Max Steiner Award at the Hollywood in Vienna Gala, an award given for extraordinary achievements in the field of film music.64 AFI In 2005, the American Film Institute unveiled their list of the top twenty-five American film scores. Five of Horner's scores were among 250 nominees, making him the most nominated composer to not make the top twenty-five:65 Apollo 13 (1995) Braveheart (1995) Field of Dreams (1989) Glory (1989) Titanic (1997) List of accolades Award Year Project Category Outcome Academy Awards 1986 Aliens Best Original Score Nominated "Somewhere Out There" (from An American Tail; shared with Cynthia Weil and Barry Mann) Best Original Song Nominated 1989 Field of Dreams Best Original Score Nominated 1995 Apollo 13 Best Original Dramatic Score Nominated Braveheart Best Original Dramatic Score Nominated 1997 Titanic Best Original Dramatic Score Won "My Heart Will Go On" (from Titanic; shared with Will Jennings) Best Original Song Won 2001 A Beautiful Mind Best Original Score Nominated 2003 House Of Sand And Fog Best Original Score Nominated 2009 Avatar Best Original Score Nominated BAFTA Awards 1995 Braveheart Best Film Music Nominated 1997 Titanic Best Film Music Nominated 2009 Avatar Best Film Music Nominated Chicago Film Critics Association 1997 Titanic Best Original Score Won 2001 A Beautiful Mind Best Original Score Nominated 2009 Avatar Best Original Score Nominated Golden Globe Awards 1986 "Somewhere Out There" (from An American Tail; shared with Cynthia Weil and Barry Mann) Best Original Song Nominated 1989 Glory Best Original Score Nominated 1991 "Dreams to Dream" (from An American Tail: Fievel Goes West; shared with Will Jennings) Best Original Song Nominated 1994 Legends of the Fall Best Original Score Nominated 1995 Braveheart Best Original Score Nominated 1997 Titanic Best Original Score Won "My Heart Will Go On" (from Titanic; shared with Will Jennings) Best Original Song Won 2001 A Beautiful Mind Best Original Score Nominated 2009 Avatar Best Original Score Nominated "I See You" (from Avatar; shared with Kuk Harrell and Simon Franglen) Best Original Song Nominated Satellite Awards 1997 Titanic Best Original Score Won "My Heart Will Go On" (from Titanic; shared with Will Jennings) Best Original Song Won 2001 A Beautiful Mind Best Original Score Nominated "All Love Can Be" (from A Beautiful Mind; shared with Will Jennings) Best Original Song Won 2003 The Missing Best Original Score Nominated Saturn Awards 1983 Brainstorm Best Music Won Krull Best Music Nominated Something Wicked This Way Comes Best Music Nominated 1985 Cocoon Best Music Nominated 1986 An American Tail Best Music Nominated 1989 Honey, I Shrunk the Kids Best Music Nominated 1995 Braveheart Best Music Nominated 2000 How the Grinch Stole Christmas Best Music Won 2009 Avatar Best Music Won Grammy Awards 1988: An American Tail – Best Album of Original Instrumental Background Score Written for a Motion Picture or Television 1988: "Somewhere Out There" (from: An American Tail, Winner) – Song of The Year 1988: "Somewhere Out There" (from: An American Tail, Winner) – Best Song Written specifically For a Motion Picture or Television 1990: Field of Dreams – Best Album of Original Instrumental Background Score Written for a Motion Picture or Television 1991: Glory (Winner) – Best Instrumental Composition Written for a Motion Picture or for Television 1996: "Whatever You Imagine" (from: The Pagemaster) – Best Song Written specifically For a Motion Picture or Television 1999: "My Heart Will Go On" (from: Titanic, Winner) – Record of The Year 1999: "My Heart Will Go On" (from: Titanic, Winner) – Song of The Year 1999: "My Heart Will Go On" (from: Titanic, Winner) – Best Song Written For A Motion Picture or for Television 2003: A Beautiful Mind – Best Score Soundtrack Album for Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media 2011: Avatar – Best Score Soundtrack Album for Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media 2011: "I See You" (from: Avatar) – Best Song Written For A Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media Category:1953 births Category:2015 deaths